Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"What do you mean? They'll come after me?"

"The reporters' first target is naturally Zhu Lan, who suddenly appears and takes down the criminal. The second target will be the criminal investigation chief who is very good at dealing with people. That chief is very shrewd and would never take credit for your work from the Officer Jenny family. So you become the third target of their attention."

"Sounds pretty safe?"

"As everyone knows, Cynthia has a flying Togekiss, and in this situation, she usually just flies away. Your superior, however, isn't aware of the detailed investigation process… In conclusion, you'll still be greeted enthusiastically by reporters. Look, they might already be looking for you…"

Just then, Officer Jenny's walkie-talkie, which was clipped to her waist, crackled to life: "Officer Jenny, please meet the officer at the west intersection. We need you to explain in detail how the robbery was discovered."

Hugo grinned smugly, "Then I won't bother you any longer. Good luck!"

As night fell, the detective, wearing a shabby white coat, waved his arm and left without looking back.

"Can I tell the reporter about your situation?" Officer Jenny shouted at Hugo's retreating figure.

The voice came from the detective's receding figure: "It doesn't matter, but don't get your hopes up too high, they won't believe it."

.

Back at the office in the Feather Residence, the detective did not open the door directly, but instead climbed onto the roof via the windowsill and external drainpipe.

Here, he saw his sister—Zhu Lan, who had just left the scene of the standoff between the police and criminals.

The detective spoke first: "There's a gray, straight dust mark on the back of your clothes, and there's brown residue of special tree fruit cultivation soil on the heels of your shoes. These two things indicate that you climbed over the window and stepped onto the land in the tree fruit cultivation area outside. This also means that you couldn't leave the gate of the Feather Residence for some reason. In addition, there are some small, haphazard rope marks on your hands. You must have created some kind of mechanism at the gate using the fishing line I left in the house."

Zhu Lan touched her forehead with her hand bearing the rope mark and said with a smile, "Your reasoning speed is comparable to Lucario's straight punch."

"Speaking of mechanisms triggered by opening doors, it must involve using the force of opening the door to move an object in the room, which then triggers a trigger device in the room—like the button on a Poké Ball. And you just showed me three Poké Balls at noon today. I guess your plan is that the moment I open the door, the Poké Balls containing Turtwig, Piplup, and Chimchar will be released simultaneously. These Pokémon will then surround me affectionately, recognizing me as their trainer, and you can leave from the rooftop without worry."

"A brilliant strategist, just like always," the detective's sister said.

“You want to take advantage of my sense of responsibility to make me raise those three,” Hugo said, glaring at him with displeasure.

“That was originally the case,” Zhu Lan nodded frankly, “but now there’s a better reason.”

The detective didn't react for a moment.

"The copycat case you claimed to have perfectly resolved is now impossible to resolve. Because I personally intervened to stop the crime."

Hugo instantly understood what Zhu Lan meant, and his expression immediately turned ugly, as if he had swallowed a dead fly.

"No matter what I say to the two alliances now, I can't explain what happened today. Those people in the alliance will just give me that United Guardian Medal without a second thought. Although I can't return the honor of heroism to the people who actually did it, for the time being, I have no choice but to go with the flow."

Zhu Lan shrugged, looked into Hugo's eyes, and their eyes met in the same gray color: "So, will you, the super professional detective, keep your promise?"

Hugo remained silent, then stood there motionless for a full ten minutes. Zhu Lan wasn't in a hurry either, staying with her younger brother on the rooftop to enjoy the night breeze.

Finally, the detective made up his mind, ignored the bamboo orchid in front of him, climbed down the roof along the windowsill and drainpipe, straightened his white suit, and walked seriously toward the main gate of Yuxi Mansion.

Turn the key, open the door, and as expected, three crisp sounds of Poké Balls opening rang out, pulled by barely visible threads.

The little monkey with a burning tail, the penguin with a round head, and the turtle with a tender sprout on its head all happily clung to the detective on his way home—no wonder they were chosen as champions, they are all adorable children with wonderful personalities.

"Hello, nice to meet you outside the Poké Ball. I'm Hugo, a detective, and from now on I'll be your trainer." The detective said in his gentlest voice, which drew an equally enthusiastic response from the three Pokémon.

Inside the Feather Residence, a warm and cozy scene unfolded, while on the rooftop, Orchid had already departed on Togekiss; she had already lingered long enough in Unova.

The interlude in Feiyun City under the night sky has come to an end, and it has fallen into a deep sleep under the bright moonlight.

Tomorrow will be another new day. Some will embark on their journeys and leave, while others will arrive with light steps. Some will form bonds with Pokémon, and some inexplicable cases will occur.

The doors of Hugo Detective Agency will continue to be open to all clients who bring cases.

Chapter 016 Azure from Pallet Town

Azure first met Hugo at a café near the Feather Residence while traveling in the Unova region. She was leisurely drinking coffee when the brightly lit floor-to-ceiling windows revealed the dilapidated state of the two-story building next door.

At that time, the Yuxi Residence looked like it was about to catch fire, with thick smoke billowing out of the windows. A young man in a white coat first took out three starter Pokémon that were blackened by smoke from the house, gently threw them into the courtyard, and then walked back into the house through the thick smoke. Soon after, the smoke gradually subsided, and the man came out with two empty cans of dry ice fire extinguishers and threw them into the garbage collection point outside the courtyard.

The fire crisis seemed to have been resolved smoothly... Azure breathed a sigh of relief and put down the fire alarm phone.

Chimchar, Piplup, Turtwig... The chestnut-haired girl identified each of the Pokémon that were being pulled out, revealing a complete set of beginner Pokémon from the Sinnoh region.

The three Pokémon looked pitiful, but seeing each other's comical gray-covered appearance, they couldn't help but burst into laughter, seemingly having a very good relationship. The young man in the white jacket, who was using a fire extinguisher to put out the thick smoke, watched their frolicking with a helpless expression.

Azure's eyes lit up; she had never encountered these three Pokémon even in Professor Oak's lab.

Speaking of Sinnoh, she couldn't help but recall the Unova news she had just seen. The front page featured a photo of the Sinnoh champion receiving the Unova Guardian Medal. Cynthia claimed that she had resolved a matter at hand while visiting a friend, but firmly denied any past acts of heroism in Unova. Many media outlets speculated that the champion was carrying out a secret mission in Unova, and that her statement was merely a cover for her whereabouts.

Being a champion is really tiring... Crimson is the same way. On the surface, he says he's settled down on Silver Mountain to cultivate, but he's actually busy running around the world as a firefighter. Every time I go to visit him, I can't find him.

The girl sighed and continued drinking her black coffee, which only contained sugar cubes. She had come here today to meet a friend who had a nice place for her to stay during her travels.

After a cup of coffee's time, the person she was waiting for arrived.

A tall, slender girl wearing a hat appeared at the cafe entrance like a celebrity. Her high ponytail was tied back from the baseball cap, and her white tank top, black jacket, and denim shorts gave her a vibrant and energetic look.

"Sister Xiaolan, I didn't expect you to come to Hezhong!"

Seeing her junior, who was half a head taller than her, squeeze into the seat next to her like a swallow throwing itself into her arms, Bilan smiled and said, "Long time no see, Douzi."

After some intimate interaction between the best friends, Douzi sat down opposite Bilan and ordered an iced fruit tea from the waiter.

"Speaking of which, what do you think of Yuxi Residence? Are you satisfied?" Douzi asked casually, setting aside the straw, raising his cup, and gulping down his fruit tea.

Azure looked surprised: "Feather Residence? Is that the apartment you're going to show me where I'll be staying? Is it nearby? This is the center of Feiyun City."

Douzi laughed heartily, pointing to the two-story building outside the window that had almost caught fire ten minutes earlier: "It's not an apartment, Yuxi Residence is a super nice villa in the city!"

It was that two-story building that almost caught fire! Xiao Lan was taken aback. She thought the building Douzi was introducing would be a cheap apartment or guesthouse, but it turned out to be a villa, right in the city center!

"But aren't people living there? There's even a firm's sign hanging on the second floor."

In the sunlight, the metal sign of "Hugo Detective Agency" resembled a giant, gleaming business card. However, the agency's owner seemed to have already returned inside with the elf, presumably to deal with the damage caused by the fire.

“That’s a tenant. The person living there complained to me about the rent last month. You can ask him to let you live on the second floor.” Douzi said casually. “The guy inside is called Hugo. He’s a very reliable detective, but whatever you do, don’t let him control Pokémon. That man is disastrously clumsy in that area.”

I've already witnessed it firsthand. Recalling the thick smoke billowing from the window, Azure couldn't help but ask again, in a confirming tone, "A very reliable detective?"

“There’s no better detective in the entire Unova.” Touko seemed to have a high opinion of the man.

The energetic girl, sipping her fruit tea, continued, "I remember the first time I met that detective, he was handling a kidnapping case. I had gone to a wealthy man's country villa, intending to buy the Feather Residence from him. And the detective happened to be there too. It turned out he had been commissioned by the wealthy man and was here to finally solve the case—meaning I had stepped right into the classic detective-pointing-the-culprit scene from a mystery movie!"

Her best friend seemed eager to tell her some interesting story, so Bilan ordered another coffee and listened with great interest.

The story takes place ten months ago. Back then, the detective didn't have an agency, and Touko was an innocent girl with a huge sum of money earned from the League Championship that she had nowhere to squander. The owner of the Feather Residence was a real estate tycoon who was known to everyone in Feiyun City.

One of the wealthy man's Pokémon was kidnapped. The kidnappers left a note at the Pokémon's usual spot, demanding a ransom of one million yuan. They placed the ransom box under a bench in a park, promising to return the Pokémon once they received the ransom.

Frankly, the demands the kidnappers made in the note were really unfair to the rich man. After all, no one could guarantee that the kidnappers wouldn't deny their debts after receiving a million dollars. They might break their promise and not release the elf, or they might even continue to extort ransom from the rich man.

But this real estate developer was extremely fond of his Pokémon, and a million dollars wasn't a huge sum for him, so the tycoon decided to follow the kidnappers' instructions.

Meanwhile, the wealthy man devised a plan to hire a private investigator. He invited Hugo, a rising star detective in Flying Cloud City, to lie in wait at the ransom location and monitor the kidnappers as they went to the park bench to collect the money, thus confirming their hiding place. If the kidnappers went back on their word, the wealthy man could use the address the detective had tracked down to directly dispatch bodyguards and guards to retrieve the elf.

The detective initially suggested placing a tracker in the ransom box to make it easier to locate the kidnappers' hideout. However, the wealthy man, fearing for the safety of his beloved Pokémon, resolutely refused to take this measure, which would easily be discovered by the kidnappers.

So the detective, following the tycoon's instructions, hid near the park bench and began monitoring the million-dollar ransom placed under it day and night...

"And then the reliable detective followed the kidnappers' trail to their hideout?" Azure asked. She found the story rather bland, and the detective in the story seemed like a paid lackey, neither reliable nor handsome.

"Quite the opposite," Douzi said mysteriously. "On the day of the transaction, the box containing the money under the bench disappeared in the blink of an eye in front of the detective, leaving only a shallow pit at the scene."

Chapter 017 Pokémon Kidnapping Incident

“This detective is utterly useless,” Azure couldn’t help but say.

“Right, that’s exactly how it feels!” Douzi nodded with his arms crossed, as if he had been there before. “When I first heard the whole story at the rich man’s house, that’s what I thought too. After the ransom disappeared, the detective felt guilty and returned all the commission fees to the rich man.”

"This approach is perfectly reasonable. After all, the whole incident is a complete failure on the part of the detective, who actually let the criminal escape right before his eyes."

Azure couldn't help but think of the burning Feather Residence. He couldn't even manage three such well-behaved beginner Pokémon. He really was a useless man.

"But that pit is quite intriguing," the chestnut-haired girl said to her junior after taking a sip of her scalding coffee.

"In that instant, the culprit didn't appear, and the box vanished. This could very well be a magic trick using a Pokémon. Let me think... it might be the effect of the 'Dig' move. Perhaps a Ground-type Pokémon had already dug a tunnel under the bench, and when the time came, it would immediately emerge to retrieve the box, then fill in the tunnel as it ran away."

"As expected of Sister Xiao Lan! She came to the same conclusion as the detective in an instant!" Douzi clapped and cheered, then added his explanation.

"The detective did tell the rich man this reasoning before ending the case, but by then the criminal had already escaped, and even the most reasonable reasoning could not undo the loss. The rich man had originally intended to accept the commission fee as a reward for Hugo's hard work in monitoring for most of the day, but the detective insisted on returning the money to the rich man."

Little Blue's opinion of the detective remained unchanged. She continued, "Ultimately, when the detective discovered the crater, he should have sent out a Pokémon and used 'Earthquake' in the park. With double damage, the kidnapper's Pokémon would definitely have immediately escaped from the ground."

As expected of Azure from Pallet Town, her impressive battle skills led her to analyze the situation from a professional perspective. She pointed out that Blastoise happens to know the "Earthquake" move, and if she were the detective, she would have caught the kidnapper long ago.

Douzi shook his head. "That detective probably will never use such a method, after all, he and Pokémon are incompatible."

Bilan didn't understand what "incompatible birth charts" meant, but seeing Douzi's "there's more to the story" expression, she didn't press him for details and quietly waited for him to continue recounting this boring kidnapping case.

"The case wasn't over yet. The millionaire's Pokémon was still missing, and the kidnappers hadn't returned it. Just then, a second ransom note arrived at the millionaire's house," Touko recounted.

"Greed knows no bounds," Azure shook her head. "But that's normal, if criminals weren't greedy, they wouldn't commit crimes."

"This time, the kidnappers demanded ten million yuan in cash in the ransom note, ten times the amount of the previous ones. Unlike before, this time the kidnappers asked the wealthy man to bury a large box containing the money—also ten times larger than the previous briefcase—under the ground in a remote forest. At that time, the kidnappers would release the wealthy man's spirit."

“The millionaire certainly didn’t agree, did he?” Azure asked. “Burning the box underground would make it even harder for the millionaire to track the kidnappers. That Pokémon that can only 'dig' can steal the ransom at any time without anyone noticing. And no one can guarantee that the criminals won’t go back on their word a second time.”

“Of course, the rich man was furious. He even considered paying to kill the criminal on the black market, but ultimately gave up because the kidnapper’s identity was unknown,” Douzi replied.

"So this tycoon is quite a ruthless character..." Azure clicked her tongue in amazement. "The world of the rich is terrifying."

"That's when I came to the millionaire's residence to inquire about the acquisition of the Feathered Residence," the Unova girl, who was also a millionaire, said casually.

"This is such bad timing. The level of disruption is equivalent to barging into the Executive Yuan at six o'clock in the afternoon. The staff who are about to leave work will definitely treat you like you're dead."

"So that's why I got glared at so fiercely at the office back then," Douzi said, clapping his hands as if suddenly realizing something.

Azure covered her forehead with one hand: "You actually did something like that?"

"The world is really complicated. It seems there's still a lot I need to learn from Sister Xiaolan." Douzi swayed her ponytail and grinned at her senior.

The girl's topics of conversation were ever-changing, and before she knew it, the detective's story had been forgotten.

“Speaking of which, let’s go shopping together this afternoon! It’s a rare opportunity to come to Flying Cloud City, so you should probably like to visit the Flying Cloud City Art Museum, Fashion Street, and Battle Company, right?” Touko, the local guide from Unova, suggested to Azure, who was traveling there.

Azure readily agreed, as this was originally part of her itinerary: "Alright. But let me make it clear beforehand, I'm only bringing one unevolved Eevee with me this time. If you're planning to earn prize money through doubles matches, don't blame me for holding you back."

Upon hearing the words "competition company," she understood the intention of the bounty hunter on the other side.

Douzi smiled awkwardly and stuck out his tongue: "I've been found out... but I believe in Xiaolan's strength. Even Eevee can definitely win."

"So it really is for the prize money. What are you planning to do with all that money you're earning by participating in so many matches?"

"I want to be a Pokémon director!" the Unova girl said with bright eyes. "I want to raise the funds to make a movie and then become the strongest Pokémon director!"

"Then why did you buy Yuqi Mansion? Buying a villa isn't a prerequisite for becoming a director, is it?"

"To be honest, I fell in love with Featherwood the moment I saw it." The girl who wanted to be a director made a surprising statement. "A villa in the city surrounded by skyscrapers, a luxurious yet picturesque paradise—the moment I saw that house, I vowed that one day I would definitely use this building as the location to shoot an amazing Pokémon movie! It has to be Featherwood!"

"That's quite ambitious," Azure sighed, somewhat envious of the younger generation before her. The girl's eyes shone with a bright light, sparkling with dreams.

As a senior, Azure was very familiar with this gaze. It often appeared in the eyes of her Pallet Town companions. When she met their gaze, she always felt that the other person was not just looking at her, but chasing something more distant—the pinnacle of the world.

Unable to see the distant scenery, Azure felt lost and decided to embark on a journey again.

"So, Little Blue, you absolutely have to participate in the doubles match I signed up for! My Emboar will do everything in its power to keep up with Eevee's pace!"

Making Enmusubi his henchman? There's no such thing as a powerful Eevee in the world!

"You've already registered?!" Azure was startled. "And you're way too blindly trusting of my abilities. What did I do that you admire so much?"

"Doesn't Little Blue have any self-awareness at all? Last time I met you in the Whirlpool Islands, you... well, you just..."

"Hmm...it was a tough battle back then, and I was using my main Pokémon." Azure recalled their previous encounter, then shook her head. "This kind of record isn't anything special among the Pallet Town trainers of our generation."

“Your peers are Blue and Red!” This time it was Douzi’s turn to complain. “One is a gym leader with experience in successfully defeating champions, and the other is the current champion of the Kanto region, a living legend of battles. Being able to be compared with the two of them is already very impressive.”

“That’s why I love traveling,” the girl from Pallet Town sighed. “Everyone in Kanto and Johto says the same thing to me. By the way, what happened to that kidnapping case earlier?”

What is the truth behind the theft of the millionaire's Pokémon? Was the criminal truly driven by insatiable greed to repeatedly extort ransom? And what gave the detective the confidence to approach the millionaire a second time?

The topic eventually circled back to the detective.

"This..." Douzi closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, as if trying to recall where the story had left off before changing the subject.

"I remember now, after receiving the wealthy man's commission, the detective lay in ambush near the park bench..."

"You've gone too far with the timeline!" Azure exclaimed loudly. Was this junior an idiot? "You mentioned earlier that the millionaire was furious because of the second extortion letter."

"Oh!" Douzi realized. "The rest of the story is entirely what I witnessed with my own eyes."

"Did you mention the first time you met the detective at the beginning?"

"Yes, the detective who had slunk away from the rich man before has returned uninvited. This time, after reading the second blackmail letter the rich man received, he smiled slightly and said—"